FROM THE ARCHIVES APRIL 3RD, 1997: The republic of Ireland's hopes of reaching the World Cup finals in France are dealt a crushing blow following a 3-2 defeat in Macedonia. Tom Humphriesattends Mick McCarthy's post-match press conference

A WHITE LINEN table cloth. Four ornamental flags. One jug of water. Two microphones. Four grinning Macedonians. Mick McCarthy.

The loneliest press conference in the world. So much to explain. So hard to explain any of it. McCarthy sits and drums his fingers as the sloe-eyed Macedonian soccer official thanks everybody he has ever met. Then, like a good host, the Macedonian winds up the speech and gives the visiting manager the microphone.

"I said before that if we played as well as we can, we would win. I believed that. My head's on the line with that statement. We didn't play as well as we can, to be honest. We had a perfect start, a goal after seven minutes and for some reason we stopped playing and defended our 1-0 lead, which was ridiculous."

He sips his water as the translations are done. When next he gets to speak he offers warm and decent best wishes to the Macedonian manager Djoki Hadjievski: "It breaks my heart to say it, but congratulations Djoki. Well done."

There is some applause and some more translating. When next McCarthy gets to speak he is interrupted by the arrival of the entire Macedonia team. More applause. "Might be a fair fight now," McCarthy mutters to himself bemused.

The circumstances are constrained. Asked about the referee's performance, McCarthy rambles slightly before concluding that "our performance is what needs criticising, not the referee's".

This is a moment for the Macedonians, their fledgling football dreams taking shape as Ireland gears itself for an inquest.

McCarthy excuses himself politely and his press conference continues in more intense circumstances outside on the main stand. Just McCarthy and 20 Irish journalists. His honesty is disarming. McCarthy stands with his arms crossed and his back to the field. He shakes his head solemnly.

"I wish I had answers as to why we started so well and fell off. We were playing it off the front well and playing well and then we started passing it around without any purpose . . ."

He bemoans the penalties, the sloppy defending which led to the first one and the harshness of the referee's decision concerning the second one. It's all by the way though. "The most disappointing thing is losing the three points. That's first and foremost. Getting beaten. We didn't play at all."

Why not? "I don't know. After the start we got, we started ever so well, we looked up for it, I thought we would have taken it on from there. We almost gave them back the initiative the way we were passing it about. We stopped playing it to the front two. I don't think any one of us, hand on heart, can actually say that we played well."

What is the way forward? Where from here?

"If I was a player I would want to turn up and redress the last two performances. The players have got to come back and want to be here and perform. Maybe we'll want to have a look at how we play. Changes will have to be made so we'll see what we've got available."

Given the time again would he rethink his tactics?

"We've played that way before and played well. What we should have done was pass it around quicker and move it. We tried to go down through the middle, they were nicking it off us and breaking on us. In the second half we tried to do it from back to front. We started off with a goal, with Alan McLoughlin in the box and a cross to the far post for Cas, something we've worked on. We let them come at us though."

In another time or another place perhaps, there would be more aggression and bite to these questions, but McCarthy's commitment is so sincere and his disappointment so painfully written on the lines of his face, that it seems pointless just now.

The performance has been so abysmal, the players so uniformly below par that the match almost defies explanation. McCarthy acknowledges that he expects a bad reaction.

"If you get beat 3-2 against anybody you expect to get it. That's being a manager."

He keeps trying to place his finger on where his team went awry. He looks like a man who'll be pacing the floors worrying about it for nights to come.

"We had a mad half-hour in the first half, we couldn't even pass the ball to each other. Some of the passing was dreadful. At half-time I've complained about how we let them in for the first penalty, I've complained about the standard of the passing, I've complained about the standard of the movement. We haven't played well. I could go on and on and on. Balls into the front men. When they did get it in they didn't hold it well. Roy coming and getting the ball off Gary Breen when Gary should be pushing Roy further forward."

That was another thing. Lots of things. "I didn't want Roy so far back. I wanted the back three players doing that job and Roy pushing on and receiving it off the back three. What happens tonight is he gets it, plays it to Steve Staunton, who knocks it long and Roy isn't anywhere near the play.

"In fairness we weren't getting it out of the back and Roy wanted to take the responsibility. So he went back and did it. I discussed that at half-time and he went further up after the break."

Do you know why as a manager you aren't getting the best out of this team?

"Don't know. I'd ask myself questions. I'll go away. 'Was the preparation right? Was this right? Was that right? If you looked at us last night (Tuesday) we were sharp, we were flying, we were up for it. We had a good start. We attacked, we got the goal. I think. I think we should have kept on doing that.

"Is it the way we play? Can we play that way? Maybe I'll have to look at the way we play? We went away to America in the summer with all the kids playing and we passed it, played it, no problem. There's a difference when there are World Cup points at stake. Maybe we can be more direct. When they are being direct sometimes it looks like they are working harder. Why we have poor performances like that I don't know.

"That was the most experienced team I could have put out. It certainly isn't the best performance. I'm not getting into widespread, wholesale changes. I've got two missing for the next game so I've got to look at changes."

There is so little self-justification, so little self-delusion about McCarthy under this inky Macedonian sky that the press conference just fizzles out.

"Alright fellas?" he says and shuffles off into the dusky players' tunnel, wondering perhaps if everything he ever knew about football will have to be re-examined.